Ryan Lochte‘s new swimming technique coming off the wall for the final 50 meters of freestyle in the 200m individual medley, which he used to win the World Championship on Aug. 6, has been outlawed by FINA, the sport’s international governing body.
At Worlds, before FINA ruled it illegal, Lochte swam on his back while turning off the wall switching from breaststroke to freestyle, while everyone else stayed more or less on their belly. He debuted the technique this summer.
“I’ve never heard a rule saying that you can’t do that, but I think they’re going to start changing the rules now,” Lochte told Michele Tafoya on Universal Sports after his fourth straight World title in the event.